Place form1(No border style) inside of form2(Normal border style)

Question

I would like to know if it is possible to show/place a form1 INSIDE form2. So that form1 is stuck inside form2.

Any help will be appreciated. thanks in advance.

Eduard Dumitru · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-17T16:58:16.860

2

Yes. The word you're looking for is MDI or Multiple Document Interface.

Just set form2's IsMdiContainer property to true and set form1's MdiParent property to be form2 like so:

form2.IsMdiContainer = true;
form1.MdiParent = form2;

Of course, you cause the visual designer to write the first line for you by setting the property in the properties section:

enter image description here

EDIT

Here's an easy example. Say you have 2 forms. FormContainer and FormChild. FormContainer is the application's main form.

All you need to do is make sure that FormContainer's IsMdiContainer property is set to true and then you could add instances of other forms to this one by setting those instances' MdiParent property. Except for the main form, any instance of the Form class or a subclass is by default not visible.

public partial class FormContainer : Form {

    public FormContainer() {
        InitializeComponent();
        this.IsMdiContainer = true;
        // if you're not excited about the new form's backcolor
        // just change it back to the original one like so
        // note: The dark gray color which is shown on the container form
        //       is not it's actual color but rather a misterious' control's color.
        //       When you turn a plain ol' form into an MDIContainer
        //       you're actually adding an MDIClient on top of it

        var theMdiClient = this.Controls
            .OfType<Control>()
            .Where(x => x is MdiClient)
            .First();
        theMdiClient.BackColor = SystemColors.Control;
    }

    private void FormContainer_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {
        var child = new FormChild();
        child.MdiParent = this;
        child.Show();

        // if you wish to specify the position, size, Anchor or Dock styles
        // of the newly created child form you can, like you would normally do
        // for any control
        child.Location = new Point(50, 50);
        child.Size = new Size(100, 100);
        child.Anchor = AnchorStyles.Top | AnchorStyles.Right;
    }

}

edited Sep 17 '13 at 16:58

answered Sep 17 '13 at 15:05

Eduard Dumitru

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I wrote Form2 f2 = new Form2(this); f2.IsMdiContainer = true; this.MdiParent = f2; in the form1_load block. But when i start the program it closes again. What should i do? Form1 is the startup form. – MasterXD Sep 17 '13 at 15:13
It doesn't matter where i write the code, the program still just closes. – MasterXD Sep 17 '13 at 15:16
Sorry i flipped the forms over. now it doesn't close. but i can't see the things from the second form. – MasterXD Sep 17 '13 at 15:20
Well.. you mixed them up a bit. Check out the **edit**. – Eduard Dumitru Sep 17 '13 at 15:23
Ok.. that's because you have to call the `Show` method of the child form just after you've assigned its `MdiParent` property. – Eduard Dumitru Sep 17 '13 at 15:24
It works Thanks alot. One last question: the background turns into a diffrent color, how do i avoid that? – MasterXD Sep 17 '13 at 15:34
AH... Sorry, my bad :D – MasterXD Sep 17 '13 at 15:48
No actually it's mine. Had forgotten about this. I will delete my previous comment. Check the latest edit again. – Eduard Dumitru Sep 17 '13 at 15:49
It doesn't change the color. Any idea why? Can i do it with a panel instead? – MasterXD Sep 17 '13 at 15:50
Yes.. As I said in the previous comment. It was actually me who hurried. Check out the latest edit. – Eduard Dumitru Sep 17 '13 at 15:52
Now it works. But can i programatically change the position of the childform? – MasterXD Sep 17 '13 at 15:59
let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/37539/discussion-between-eduard-dumitru-and-masterxd) – Eduard Dumitru Sep 17 '13 at 16:58
No need, I found out what I needed. Thank you very much for your help. – MasterXD Sep 17 '13 at 17:13

Place form1(No border style) inside of form2(Normal border style)

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